


Hand Cream

by themostcleverandwittyname



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Follows Main Fic, Hand & Finger Kink, Injury, Inspired by FFV7 Remake, No established relationship, One Shot, POST AC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:20:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23728939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themostcleverandwittyname/pseuds/themostcleverandwittyname
Summary: Cloud burns his hand on a prototype and lets Stella show him a little care, despite him being so stubborn.
Relationships: Cloud Strife/Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Hand Cream

**Author's Note:**

> I played the FFV7 Remake recently and in my first playthrough, I chose the luxury hand massage in the wall market. It was intriguing, but what made me want to write this was the "poor mans" treatment. It was upsetting to watch and I felt like I needed a therapy outlet. What better way than to write Stella giving Cloud's hand some love. 
> 
> This is not canon to my main fic, "Chin Up, Buttercup", which is the Cloud/Stella fic that I'm working on. 
> 
> I hope this is pleasing and that it helps you in your search for Cloud Hand Love

“You touched it, didn’t you?”

The evidence was clear. She stepped out of the room to grab some coffee and sure enough, the sound of a crash and shocked exclamation was enough to tell her. When she had rushed over to the room and swung the door open, she almost hit the blonde, who had backed away from the work desk. He held his hand to his chest and looked back to her with wide eyes before he straightened up. Her question floated there for a moment, the contraption glowing red on the concrete floor was an answer enough, yet the man still hesitated. 

“I didn’t mean to… it was sliding off the desk and I tried to catch it before it fell and-” He gave, taking a step back. She leaned over the device, the red metal was beginning to cool and lose its brightness.

“And it burned you.” Stella sighed, looking over to him, noting how he held his hand. “Let me see, it might be a pretty nasty burn.” She offered, her hand reaching out to his. He looked to her and hesitated but finally shook his head, dropping his hand to the side. Did he always have to be so stubborn?

“I’ll be fine. I’m sorry about your...thing.” He apologized and she still held her hand out, a signal that she wasn’t giving up. 

“Don’t worry about that. Let me see your hand, Cloud. You just got electrocuted and a burn is the least of it.” She explained and he looked away, his blue eyes studying the door. “Please.” she gave finally and he gave her a decisive look. His defense deflated and he exhaled through his nose. 

“Here. I know it’s fine, but if it makes you feel better…” He trailed off, taking a step closer and setting his wrist in her grasp.

She was glad she didn’t have to beg or argue, as was usually the case. He never wanted to bother anyone or make anyone worry for him. It could be a real pain sometimes, especially if he hurt himself during a mission. He would make sure he dealt with it himself and took all the worry off anyone around him. It was endlessly frustrating when she would find out too late that he had been struggling only to keep it to himself. 

Now she could help him and he wasn’t fighting her. 

“I’m going to take your glove off now. Do you think it’s too bad to pull the glove off, or do you think it’s minimal?” She asked and he closed his eyes. 

“It’s minimal, but just hurry and take it off. No slowly pulling it off. It’ll suck that way.” he said, his eyes shut to prepare himself. He was probably lucky that he had the glove on, the leather would have done a good job to protect him from the heat, right? Or would it have trapped the heat and burned him worse? She didn’t know, but she was going to find out. Pinching the tip of the glove on his middle finger, she tried to pull it away from his finger to make it a little easier. He winced and peeked down to her. 

“I said hurry… not take your time.” He said through clenched teeth. 

She wanted to snap back, but bit her tongue instead. She couldn’t blame him. She would probably be the same way. Taking his suggestion, she tugged the glove off and he sucked air in through his teeth. The burn was spread over each finger and across his palm. It was red, but there was no blistering yet and wasn’t as bad as she thought. 

“It’s not bad but still a doozy. Good thing I have some cream.” She said, her evaluation seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“Cream? If it’s fine, then I don’t need cream.” He gave and tugged at his arm. She held him and he gave her a look. 

“Hey, hold up. You hold your sword with this hand, right? This burn will only get worse the more time you wait.” She gave in a warning voice. He gauged the state of his hand took a moment of silence before pinching his brows together. 

“Fine, okay. Hand me the cream.” He gave in. Stella paused and sucked in her cheeks. Why couldn’t he let her do anything for him?

“Just sit down. Let me do it.” She offered, letting go of his wrist and reached around a mound of wires to the medical burn cream she kept handy. She always burned herself and if she didn’t have this around, she would be in serious pain and had some gnarly hands with all of the burn scars that she’d have.

“What? No, you don’t have to. I don’t need help.” He argued as she plucked the tube up and he reluctantly took a seat in the chair next to hers. He’d always come in the check in on her and sometimes would end up staying and watching her work. Sometimes he’d talk and they would have nice conversations about life and share old stories and other times he’d sit silently, no words being passed between them.

“I know you don’t  _ need _ help. I want to. With all the times you’ve bandaged me up and helped me get on my feet, it’s the least I can do.” She urged as she too took a seat, taking pulling his hand into lap. She unscrewed the cap in a hurry and set it off to the side before he could argue.

“You don’t have to make up for that. It’s my job.” he again gave stubbornly but made no effort to back out or take the cream from her. Taking that as a sign, she squeezed a dollop of the white cream onto his palm and he whimpered. “Ah, that’s cold.” he observed. 

“Savor that. It’s going to burn like hell for a minute.” She reminded and placed the tube next to the cap on her desk. He gave her a look and took a deep breath to prepare himself, frowning as he watched on. 

Carefully, she took his wrist like before and began to rub the cream across his palm, making sure her touch was light. She wanted to make sure she didn’t agitate his skin any more than it was already. She didn’t know if it was the cream that coated her fingers or just his skin, but his hands were much softer than she would have guessed. Sure, he wore gloves most of the time so that must have helped, but she really expected his hands to be more grizzled. It just goes along with the experienced mercenary image. 

“There’s the burn.” Cloud groaned, the sensation finally settling in. In reflex, his fingers curled a bit.

“It’ll sting for a minute, but when that’s gone it’ll take the pain with it. It might be sore to the touch, but not as bad as it would be.” She assured, speaking from experience. She let her fingers trail up his, spreading the cream across his own. 

“Taking after your mom.” He commented and she nodded, a smile earned from his statement. So he did remember. In their conversations, she had mentioned once or twice that her mom was a surgeon and medical practitioner.

She let her hand linger on his as she compared the sizes. Knowing she wouldn’t get an opportunity like this often, she decided to make a comment. 

“Your fingers are so much longer than mine.” She simply observed and looked up to him, his eyes still locked on their hands. He gave a shakey, uneven breath and she watched him for a moment. His breathing wasn’t right. It was irregular and after being electrocuted, that wasn’t a good sign. 

“The burning is gone now so I-” Not letting him finish, she voiced her concerns. 

“You’re not breathing right. Are you okay? Do you feel okay?” Her onslaught of questions began. She placed two fingers on his wrist, trying to feel for his pulse, but it was difficult. 

“Huh, my breathing?” He asked, watching her prod his wrist. 

“Yes, Cloud, you’ve been electrocuted. That does more than just burn your skin. If you’re breathing funny, your heart might be beating off sync.” She explained and groaned, “Ugh, it’s impossible to check your pulse like this. Come here.” Not giving him time to respond, she dropped his hand and leaned in. 

“My pulse- ah, hey!” He choked out as she pressed her ear to his chest. He sat still as she listened, the sound of his heart fluttered as normal, but seemed to be slowing a little bit. That when she realized that he was being still because he was holding his breath. 

“Don’t hold your breath, you’re messing me up. Just breathe normally.” She instructed and listened more, seeing if he was obeying her words. 

“This isn’t… I’m fine, I promise.” He spoke, his voice made his chest vibrate. It wasn’t helping.

“Shhh!” she urged in a quick yet understood demand. As he breathed normally, yet slow and deep, she listened to the rhythm of his heart, understanding that this wasn’t the most scientific or medical way to listen to a heartbeat, but it was all she had. How much was a normal heartbeat? Sixty beats a minute? Eighty beats a minute? She tried counting but cursed her stupidity when she realized she wasn’t timing it before she counted seventeen beats. 

Before she could suggest grabbing a timer, he pulled her up and off his chest with his spare hand. She knew he was probably embarrassed, but she would rather embarrass him a little than have him have heart issues because she didn’t try to check.

“Stella, please. That’s enough, I’m fine.” He pleaded and she looked up to meet his baby blues. She had in fact embarrassed him and his expression was telling. She felt a little bad about it but not too much. Making sure he was okay was the priority here, especially since it was her device that hurt him. She searched his face a little too long and a familiar heat rushed to her face. 

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure, you know?” She apologized and leaned back in her chair. He looked down at his hand and curled his fingers in and out. 

“I know. I appreciate it, really.” he gave and looked back to her, his face still tinged a light pink. “My hand does feel better already.” he admitted. A silence lingered between them and he left his burned hand alone for the meantime.

“Thanks for letting me help you for once. I know you don’t do that often and I’m still not sure why, but I’m glad I could help.” She muttered and he pushed the chair back as he got to his feet. Guess it was time for him to go and why wouldn’t he after she embarrassed him like that?

“Well, thanks. It’s getting late and I’m going to go lay down. Maybe you should too. I didn’t see you sleep last night.” He started and she grinned to herself. 

“That’s because I didn’t sleep last night.” She admitted and looked over to her pile of work. It would most likely be the same tonight. He laid his uninjured hand on her shoulder for a moment, it’s lingering was a silent scolding.

“Well, more reason to try to sleep tonight. Get some rest, I mean it.” He half scolded and gave her a pat before he walked around her to the door. She looked back to the cream on the table and listened to the sound of the door clicking shut. 

She sighed and screwed the cap back on, looking over to see that he had left the familiar leather glove on her desk. It was best that he didn’t put it back on tonight. She took it and set it aside, trying to remember where she was in her work before this happened. She did recall the coffee in the kitchen just outside the door, but she stopped to consider it. 

Cloud was stubborn as ever, but she was too. If he let her take care of him, then it wouldn’t be right not to at least try to sleep tonight. She owed that to him, she supposed, even if it felt different. 

Picking up the now cool metal from the concrete floor, she turned her lamp off and pushed up her chair under, trying not to think too much about how Cloud’s hand felt in hers. She shouldn’t think about that and not just because it might prevent her from sleeping. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, let me know! It was a fun and quick ficlet and I enjoyed it.


End file.
